United Nations blames hate posts on Facebook for Rohingya crisis

Reuters reports that in an interim submission to the U.N. Human Rights Council, fact-finding mission chair Marzuki Darusman emphasized the "determining role" of social media networks in the conflict, which he said "substantively contributed to the level of acrimony and dissension and conflict" in Myanmar.

The UN's top official on preventing genocide said on Tuesday (Mar 13) efforts were made to "cleanse" the Rohingya and that returning the persecuted Muslim minority to Myanmar risked further atrocities against them.

Over 671,000 members of the Muslim Rohingya minority have fled Myanmar's western Rakhine state for neighboring Bangladesh since August 25, many bearing tales of atrocities committed by Myanmar's military, including executions, gang rapes, and the razing of homes and villages. Hate speech is certainly of course a part of that.

However, Myanmar government led by Aung San Suu Kyi has vehemently denied USA and United Nations allegations of ethnic cleansing, insisting it was responding to attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army in late August.

The violence committed against the minority Muslim community Rohingya has been referred as the crimes under global law by United Nations Human Rights officials.

"Everything is done through Facebook in Myanmar", The Guardianquotedher as saying.

Wirathu, a prominent face of Myanmar's Buddhist ultra-nationalist movement, had amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on the network, using it as a platform to attack Muslims, singling out the stateless Rohingya minority.

"I'm afraid that Facebook has now turned into a beast", Lee told reporters.

Calls have been mounting for the creation of a UN-backed investigation to prepare criminal indictments over atrocities committed in Myanmar.

Lee told the Human Rights Council that violent sweeps by the Myanmar army in Rakhine state that prompted about 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh "bear the hallmarks of genocide".

"This must be aimed at the individuals who gave the orders and carried out violations against individuals and entire ethnic and religious groups", she said.

"The government leadership who did nothing to intervene, stop or condemn these acts must also be held accountable", she added.

Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed in November to begin repatriating Rohingya who volunteered to return to Rakhine, but the plan has stalled.

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